Friday, December 10, 2010

As someone who considers himself a good American, I believe a first-time voter should affiliate with a political party;your prejudices concerning the political system need to start somewhere. Growing up in the time and place I did, becoming a Democrat was almost inevitable. So I became, and have remained, a member of the Dems for around 30 years now.

Please understand, though, that my affiliation does not include a financial commitment to the future success of the party. Number 1, joining the Democrats is usually not the first step to wealth and prosperity. Not at the level I'd be at, anyway. Number 2, it's not like the Democrats, on those rare occasions they've been in power in Washington, have made any tangible effort to leave me better off. Besides, it's one thing to support a party's stance on issues. But you don't want to encourage them.

So what am I to make of an e-mail I received from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this week, explaining that the party still has hopes of shoring up the results of November's Republican tidal wave at election time, but only if I cough up a few bucks to help out {I don't know who's coughing up the bucks to help me out, but my hopes are frankly set low}.

Let it be said, though, that the Democrats do pay attention to the world around them. Noting how much money PBS takes in by offering little more than beads and trinkets at exorbitant rates, the DCCC has opened something it calls "My Democratic Store", soliciting donations in exchange for, well, why don't I just show you some of them [please believe me, these are actual items from the "Store". I'm not clever enough to make this up]?

Exhibit 1; an autographed copy of [soon-to-be] former Speaker Of The House Nancy Pelosi's book, Know Your Power. Given the Democrats' failures at such relatively simple tasks as passing legislation when they held both Houses of Congress and the White House, what any of them, and especially Pelosi, knows about power is uncertain at best. For a somewhat lower price, you can get an un-signed version of the book [I hate to bash my home town of Buffalo, NY, but the situation reminds me of the contest someone held once; first prize was a week in Buffalo.

Second prize was two weeks, and Third place had to stay all month. My apologies to Buffalonians everywhere].

Staying with Pelosi-oriented memorabilia, how about a three-gallon popcorn tin, celebrating Pelosi's two years as Speaker? Besides the fact that it resembles nothing so much as a trash can, one would note that an item like this is more kit ch than respectful collectible. It reminds me of all those "collectibles" made in England any time one of the Royals marry [If you want even a percentage of all the Prince William and Kate items eventually coming to market, you'd better start shopping now.

Just about everyone in the room recognizes this item, I trust; an exact replica of the "onesies" worn by classic newspaper comic strip star "Li'l Dem" [reading this strip as a child is just one more reason I became a Democrat]. Or am I just mixing this up with the Yellow Kid?

I don't know; I'm hopeful that the Party can find its financial footing without assessing members dues. But knowing how much trouble the Buffalo Bills Team Store is having getting rid of jerseys from ex-players Terrell Owens and Trent Edwards, just to name two, I'm not optimistic.

About Me

To elaborate on why this is here; sitting in a room, playing recorded music doesn't take as much brain power as you'd think. I ponder a lot of things in my spare time. Maybe you'd like to read about them [maybe not...]. Here they are, waiting for your comments.